I'm still looking for people to review my spy book:
Phantom Thief
If you're interested just let me know.
Here's the synopsis and the first chapter:
Lee is known as many things. A con artist, master thief and most times smarter than anyone else in the room. One thing he'll never be is normal. He never has been, nor will he ever be. That's why the agency needs his help, and that's why he'll give it to them, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own plans too.
Joining up with the team that arrested him won't be easy, but he'll do anything to bring down the man who ruined his life. After he's worn so many faces, how does he really know who he is underneath?
Most teenagers have hobbies, his is crime.
Chapter 1
Silently, Lee studied each of the agents that sat around the table in front of him. As far as any of them could tell, he wasn’t even thinking behind the emotionless mask he wore.
But he was. He’d learned the trick long ago and it always came in handy, especially when dealing with cops. He loved the way it always seemed to unnerve them, it was the highlight of his day. Maybe even his week.
He relaxed back against his chair and took in everything around him, faster than any normal person could. Good thing, he’d never been normal.
Lee fixed his gaze on the agent straight across from him. “So Pierson, how was your trip last week?" he asked, stretching out his legs as he tried not to smile. Not an easy task.
The color instantly drained from Agent Pierson’s face and he looked… well, kind of scared. Maybe he thought Lee was a mind reader or something.
“It… it was fine,” he stammered, glancing at his fellow agents. But they weren’t going to be any help against what Lee had planned for him. “How did you know my name?”
Lee shrugged. The answer was easy, the dude had it printed on his satchel. Sure, it was under the table, where Lee shouldn’t be able to see it, and he wouldn’t if it wasn’t for the mirror behind the agent. As for the trip? Well, that was just child’s play! Anyone could have guessed it.
“Did the kids enjoy it? I’d think at their age they’d have fun, but will they still remember going when they’re older? That’s why my dad never took me.”
“How did you know I have kids?!” he asked, jumping to his feet. “How?”
Lee looked at him, but he didn’t let the guy’s outburst faze him. He was touchy when it came to his family, that was something Lee would have to file away for later.
“Pierson, sit back down, now,” Agent Smith ordered him.
“But… but how did he know any of that?” Pierson asked, glancing between her and Lee. “I’ve never even seen him before!”
“Don’t ask him how he knows, he just does and if you ask him, he’ll make your head hurt,” she whispered, motioning for him to sit back down. “You can’t let him get to you, that’s what he wants. He likes to play with peoples’ minds.”
Lee laughed. “Such kind words, Agent Smith. You’re making me blush.”
“I see you’re still a piece of work,” Smith mumbled, shaking her head at him. “I’m surprised you’ve lived this long, without someone trying to kill you. How has prison been?”
He flashed her a smile, and she flinched. “Oh, believe me, people have tried their very best to kill me. As for my little stay here, it’s been quite enjoyable, thank you for asking.”
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?" she asked, sneering at him.
“No, it’s a known fact nowadays,” Lee said. “But don’t worry Miss Smith, I didn’t forget about you. How are your wedding plans going, by the way? And did you meet him in France or Germany? I can’t remember.”
“I… I…” Agent Smith stammered glancing around, her cheeks turning red. Lee loved seeing her squirm. “How…?” Smith caught herself, but it was already too late.
“Alright, enough of your games, Simon Lee.”
Lee jumped at the use of his name from the newcomer behind him.
It wasn’t the volume of the voice, but the voice itself that took him off guard. Great! So now they were going to call him Simon Lee. What happened to Phantom Thief? That name was so much cooler and it hadn’t been easy to get.
Lee turned toward the other end of the table and gritted his teeth, as he leaned back against his chair and tugged against his handcuffs. “Well, Agent Winfield, it’s good to see you too,” Lee said, trying in vain to keep the edge out of his tone. “What drug you all the way out here?”
“Why do you like to egg everyone on? You’re fifteen, you shouldn’t be acting like a child anymore," Winfield said, firmly but without even raising his voice. “They brought me in, to try and keep you in line.”
“Man! Take all the fun out of this whole thing, why don’t you?” Lee mumbled, glaring at Winfield as he swung his legs up onto the table. “I thought I’d finally be rid of you, after everything that happened last time we met.”
Agent Winfield shot back a glare. “You should be having plenty of fun, just being out of your cell,” he growled. “Now, how many times do you have to be told to keep your feet off the table? Phantom, you’re such a child sometimes.”
If he wanted Lee to act like a child, he’d act like a child.
Sticking out his tongue, Lee promptly sat back up, placing his feet back onto the ground, he glared at him. “That better, old man?” he asked. “Until you showed up, I thought we were going to have some fun. Maybe play some games, throw a party, break into a top security building and take selfies? You pick, though I’m leaning toward the latter, I’d love to see the inside of the Pentagon.”
* * *
Winfield wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this wasn’t it. The kid had been in a cell for the past three months, yet he hadn’t changed one bit. That was good and bad.
“Do you know why I’m here?" he asked. Lee shook his head as Winfield pulled a tablet out of his jacket. He was about to place it onto the table when he hesitated. Could he really do this to him? It was one thing putting him away for the crimes he’d committed, but ask him to risk his life? That didn’t seem right to him, but his boss hadn’t asked. “You’re here because of this,” he said, sliding the tablet across the table to the boy.
Lee easily slipped out of his handcuffs, catching the tablet before it could slide off, he looked down at the screen.
Winfield glanced toward Pierson and forced himself to clear his throat so he didn’t laugh at the look on the agent’s face. But to the rest of the team, this little trick of getting out of handcuffs was childish after everything else they’d seen the kid do.
Lee stared down at the tablet, and Winfield knew what he was looking at. It was a profile from the government’s criminal database, but it wasn’t just anyone’s profile.
“Samuel Griffin?” Lee asked, already knowing the answer as he stared down at one of many faces that haunted his sleep. “You’re going to go after him? What did he do to finally catch your attention?”
“Why do you ask that?” Agent Davis asked, glancing toward Winfield.
“Ah! The silent and brooding agent has finally spoken,” Lee said. “Something’s obviously changed, it’s not like this guy just popped up on your radar,” Lee said, tossing the tablet back onto the table. “So, are you going to tell me what it is? Or am I going to have to guess? Because I’m fine with playing twenty questions if you’re up for it.”
“The chatter about him has been going up lately, he’s up to something big and, we don’t know what it is, yet.”
“We’re afraid he may have started working with terrorists, for the right price of course,” Smith said. “He’s turning into a bigger monster than he used to be. At least back before he worked for the Underground, he wasn’t a mass murderer.”
Lee scoffed, “He might as well have been. Griffin would enslave his own mother for the ‘right price’, and he’s not the kind of guy you want to meet in a back alley.” He sighed and shook his head at them. “It would be great if you guys were able to stop him, but I hate to break it to you. This team might have been good enough to bring me in, but you’re going to need more if you want this guy. He’s got the whole Underground backing him and he won’t go down without a fight. Not to mention, his men are almost as hard to track down. You’re going to need more than just ‘wanting’ to get this guy. You’re going to need a plan and a whole lot of luck.”
“Yeah, and that’s why you’re here, moron,” Agent Trinity snarled. “You’re here to help us, that’s the only reason we let you out of your cage in the first place.”
“Well, someone hasn’t changed,” Lee said, gritting his teeth. “If you’re so smart, you should realize I have no reason to help you.”
“Yeah, we know. There’s another file on that tablet, you might want to look at,” Winfield said, crossing his arms. “Go on, read it and see if it doesn’t change your tone, just a little bit.”
Something about the sound of his voice, caused Lee to hesitate. He had a feeling he probably wasn’t going to like this. Taking in a deep breath, he bent forward. He slid his finger across the screen and it lit back up again, revealing another file.
Carefully, he scrolled down and scanned over the file.
“He wants me,” Lee whispered. “Does he know I’m here?” he asked, looking up at Winfield.
“What are you two talking about?” Smith asked, glancing between the two of them.
“When Lee was little…” Winfield hesitated, obviously trying to decide how much to tell them. “He was kidnapped, just like this new kid, it can’t be a coincidence. Someone’s searching for him.”
“You were kidnapped as a little kid?” Pierson asked, looking at Lee as if he’d just realized that he was indeed human.
Lee slid that tablet as far away from him as he could. “Does he know I’m here?”
“Yes and no,” Winfield said, sighing. “As I’m sure you remember, he wasn’t as big-time back then, as he is now and he had no way of knowing your real name. But…”
“’ But’ what?”
“But, he does know you were the Phantom Thief.”
Trinity snorted. “Oh, so Griffin’s hunting a Phantom?”
“Really?” Smith said, shooting him a glare. “You hardly ever make jokes, and you think this is the best time to do it? Sometimes you’re really stupid. You know that right?”
“If he didn’t know who Lee was, why’d he take him?” Davis asked, seeming to ignore both Smith and Trinity and went straight to the point.
“For my ‘gift’,” Lee whispered, dropping his gaze back to the tablet that seemed to be taunting him. “He may not have known my real name, but he knew enough about me, to try and ruin my life if I didn’t do what he wanted. That’s just what he did.”
“Your gift?”
“Yeah, somehow he found out I can spot a fake from the real thing every time,” Lee said. “It comes in handy when working with other criminals, Griffin knew that better than anyone else I’m sure. Like they say, ‘there’s no honor among thieves’.”
“So, are you going to help us get this guy, or what?” Trinity asked. “Because we didn’t have you come here just to see you and listen to your stupid voice.”
“Are you sure that’s why?” Lee asked. “Be honest, it wasn’t because you missed me? I’m pretty sure it’s because you missed me. I mean, we got so close when you guys were after me and I was trying not to get caught. I’m pretty sure we bonded over the year.”
Trinity glared at him. “If I had my way, you’d be down in a cold, dark hole, rotting the rest of your little life away, and not helping us take Griffin down.”
“How medieval of you, Trin,” Lee said. “I expected better from you. Is this because I didn’t send you a birthday card last week? I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t seem to find a stamp anywhere in my cell.”
“Don’t call me Trin!” the agent growled, gritting his teeth. “My name is Trinity, and how did you know my birthday was last week?”
Lee grinned, a grin that caused most of the agents to shift nervously in their seats. “Uh… now I’m going to have to call you Trin all the time. You know your birthday’s not even classified, right? It was easy…”
“Lee, cut it out!” Winfield snapped. “As much as I don’t want to, we need to talk about Griffin, not you two egging each other on!”
Lee’s mouth snapped shut, and he turned toward Winfield slightly resembling a whipped puppy. “Alright, then… what if I don’t want to help you? If it wasn’t for you, I’d be living it up somewhere, with the best wine and parties money can steal.” Lee clapped his hand over his mouth. “Whoops! Said the ‘s’ word.”
Trinity rolled his eyes. “You’re not even old enough to drink anyway, you half-wit. So you wouldn’t have been ‘partying’ with wine, anyway.”
Lee grinned. “Why of course and we both know, I always follow all the rules. Why else would I be in or… was I in, handcuffs? I wouldn’t even dream about crossing the road without looking both ways, like a good little boy. So why would I drink underage? And it’s not like other countries have a lower legal age than here.”
“First off, drinking at your age is just stupid,” Agent Smith said, holding up a finger. “Second, drinking too much at any age is just idiotic. So, you really shouldn’t drink at fifteen.”
“Relax,” Lee said, rolling his eyes as he scooted down in his chair. “I’m not planning on starting drinking. You don’t have to worry about me, Grandma. I know how to handle myself.”
Smith huffed. “Don’t call me ‘grandma’ again,” she growled. “I’m not even thirty yet. Not old enough to even be your mother.”
“Okay… I won’t call you grandma,” Lee said, with a wink. “Gma.”
“Can you not keep focus for like, five seconds?” Winfield asked, but before he could continue Smith cut in again.
“I'm not an old woman, just because I don't think you should be drinking,” she said, pressing her lips tightly together. “You don’t have to be old to be responsible, obviously something you never learned.”
“I think of myself as responsible, after all, I’ve taken pretty good care of myself since I left home,” Lee said, glancing toward Winfield. “Though I’m sure all of you might think I’m irresponsible because I got caught. But then again, if it was me being irresponsible, doesn’t that mean you didn’t do a very good job? It should have been easy for you to catch me.”
“You ‘left’ home? Or were you kicked out because you have a drinking problem? And are you just a pain in the neck?” Lee laughed at that and shook his head at her. “You think I’m being funny? Well, it’s not funny!”
“Smith, just drop it already! Do you think he’d numb his senses with alcohol?” Winfield asked her. “You and I both know he’s not that stupid.”
“Thanks?” Lee asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I got confused if you were on her side, or mine on that one.”
“I’m the leader,” Winfield said. “And because I’m the leader, I’m not on anyone’s side. Remember?”
“Oh… I remember alright,” Lee said, snorting. “I remember…” He felt a hand on his shoulder, and before he even knew what he was doing, he had one of the guards pinned against the table.
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